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State Legislators Adopt Contact Voltage Resolution

CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) has adopted a resolution urging state utility regulators to address the dangers of contact voltage, a hidden danger that has caused deaths and serious injuries in cities across the US in recent years.

Sponsored by Rep. Alan Williams (D-FL), the resolution, entitled "Protecting the Public from Serious Injury & Death Caused by Contact Voltage in Our Communities," calls on "all state legislators to ensure that their respective regulators, who are not already doing so, are proactively addressing these dangers."

"This is another important step in our mission to preserve our daughter's legacy," said former NFL defensive lineman Anthony "Bubba" Green, whose 14-year-old daughter, Deanna, was killed by contact voltage in an incident in Baltimore, MD, in 2006. "My wife, Nancy, and I are committed to seeing that Deanna's footprints are firmly embedded across the country."

Deanna Green was killed while warming up for a church softball game. Contact voltage had caused a fence adjacent to her team's bench to become electrified. Deanna was an aspiring lyric opera singer and wanted to commit her life to helping others.

Following the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Green, the State of Maryland recently passed the "Deanna Camille Green Rule for Contact Voltage Detection and Repair," which requires that annual testing be performed in Maryland cities to detect contact voltage. The Maryland regulation was modeled after regulations in the State of New York where a young woman was killed by contact voltage in 2004. The NBCSL resolution notes that "the methodology used in the State of New York has substantially improved public safety."

"Every day I work with children, teaching them to set goals, live their dreams and be accountable for their actions," Mr. Green added. "This resolution is another step in ensuring states are proactively addressing public safety hazards, and making communities safer. There would be no better way to remember our daughter."